Depth profiling techniques: how PIXE compares to NRP and MEIS?

Abstract

The aim of the present work is to check the potentialities of particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) as an analytical tool for measurement of ultra-thin film thicknesses in the nanometer scale. To that end, several different thin oxide films (HfO 2 , LaScO 3 , LaAlO 3 and Al 2 O 3 ) in the range of 2-60 nm were grown on crystalline Si. Film thickness measurements using 2.0 and 0.4 MeV proton PIXE, 40 and 200 keV proton medium energy ion scattering (MEIS), and 991.9 keV proton nuclear reaction profiling (NRP) were compared. For the simple target structures studied in this work, the results indicate that PIXE provides thicknesses compatible to those obtained with NRP and MEIS. However, PIXE analysis proved to be difficult in some cases, particularly when close-by elements with overlapping X-ray peaks are involved. For such cases, MEIS and NRP present clear advantages over PIXE.

Depth profiling of low energy ion implantations in Si and Ge by means of micro-focused grazing emission X-ray fluorescence and grazing incidence X-ray fluorescence

“…17 Comparisons of different surfacesensitive analytical techniques can be found in the literature. [18][19][20][21] 2 Depth profiling by means of grazing XRF techniques With respect to the above mentioned techniques, X-ray based approaches are non-destructive and do not necessarily require a high-vacuum environment like it is the case for particle-based methods. Furthermore no sample preparation is required, a wide range of materials regarding the elemental and chemical composition as well as the concentration (implantation dose for ion-implanted samples) can be studied.…”

“…17 Comparisons of different surfacesensitive analytical techniques can be found in the literature. [18][19][20][21]…”